“Of course not,” Sister Cross said. Her face twisted into almost a scowl before quickly returning to her light smile. “Of course not, Shal. It means a lot that I can stay with you for a while, but hunting necromancers is the Elysium Order’s duty. Its very meaning. If I let one go on purpose, I’d be stripped of my command and possibly tried as a heretic.”
That didn’t sound good. Shalise decided not to ask about heretics.
“Good,” Shalise said. “About not letting him go on purpose,” she clarified. “I don’t think I would have liked it much if you had.”
Sister Cross chuckled. “I wouldn’t let someone escape after they hurt my cute little Shal.”
Shalise sighed and shook her head with a small smile on her face. In doing so, she noticed a second figure standing behind her. Shalise jumped and half stepped to the side.
“Trying to recruit my students again, Sister Cross?”
Dean Turner stared with a glare that could kill. Buttons were undone halfway down her shirt. A black tube top underneath barely held in her modesty. Not the picture of a dean Shalise had in mind, but her face was deadly serious.
Exactly how she appeared during her speech.
“Trying to discourage it, actually.”
Dean Turner let out a loud, obvious scoff and flicked her sharp gaze at Shalise. It softened somewhat after looking her up and down. “Is that true Miss,” her eyes narrowed. It wasn’t narrowing in anger, rather a narrowing in thought.
“W-Ward. Shalise Ward.” She took a deep breath and tried to reign down her nerves. Her gaze might have softened, but it wasn’t soft enough for Shalise’s tastes. “It is true.”
The gaze left Shalise and resumed its hostility against Sister Cross. “You lucked out this time, Cross. I told you before and I’ll tell you again, I don’t want you or your people talking to my students.”
Sister Cross’ eyes flicked to Shalise for the barest of instants. She sighed and pressed her hands together. With a short bow of her head, Sister Cross turned and all but floated away with light steps.
“Miss Ward,” the dean said. The sharp heels on her boots clicked against the floor as she spun to face Shalise. “If you require career counseling, I am sure your counselor would strongly advise
Up close, it was a lot more jarring to see the dean appearing so unprofessional. Most of the teachers wore full suits. Only Professor Twillie and Professor Kines wore anything else. Their clothes were suited for their more hands on classes, rather than indicating any rebellion from the two.
Looking closer, Shalise thought the few buttons that were done up weren’t even the right buttons. The left side didn’t match up to the right side.
Shalise shook her head and cleared her throat, trying to disguise her stare. She didn’t think it worked too well. “I-I believe that is my decision to make.”
“If you’re looking for cheap ways to get easy power, know that power always has a price,” Dean Turner said in a strong voice. She tilted her head towards the direction Sister Cross retreated. “The sisterhood has a high price for such low power. If you’re willing to pay, find someone who can offer a good deal.”
Her short ponytail flicked to the side as she spun on her heel. They clicked off down the hall as she strode in the opposite direction Sister Cross took.
Shalise stood there frozen in place. She watched the woman’s back until, half way down the hall, she vanished.
Leaning back against a window, Shalise frowned.
— — —
Nel Stirling grabbed the short strand of brown hair out of the air. She tossed it into the drawer of her desk and slammed it shut.
The long strand of black hair moved above the frankincense burner and hovered in the air.
Nel pulled on her collar, veil, and wimple in record time. Despite her haste, she took care to make sure not a single strand of black hair could be seen. The only skin visible was the small oval from her chin to her forehead.
She sat down in her meditative pose in front of the frankincense burner, barely having time to smooth out her habit before Lynn Cross charged in the door.
The door slammed behind Sister Cross as she stomped towards Nel’s altar.
“Sister Cross,” she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice, “I was just doing my hourly checkup of–”
“Save it. What is Shalise doing?”
Nel snapped her mouth shut. With a thought, the strand of black hair floated off to one side. A long strand of slightly wavy brown hair replaced it. She took a deep breath of the frankincense and waited.
The world vanished from before her still open eyes. The scene of an office filled in. With a thought, the stage advanced. A trail of light, already fading, indicated her passing into the hallway. The light gathered into a ball near the main entrance to the school building.
